Stories tagged with Ecuador

On April 16, 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake destroyed much of Manabí, Ecuador. The death toll was more than 600, with nearly 13,000 injured. Additionally, more than 26,000 people were forced into shelters or tent communities after losing their homes. But only weeks after the devastating disaster, Fundación ESPOIR had already sprung into action.

Nestled in the northern city of Ibarra, a new Kiva partner, CACMU (Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Mujeres Unidas), offers an impressive line of products to the community. The result of 3 organizations coming together 14 years ago, CACMU now offers financial services all over northern Ecuador.

I recently joined CACMU in Ibarra, and have witnessed firsthand their dedication to their social mission. To reach clients in impoverished, rural communities, they created a “servimovil” roving branch office, which visits a different town each day. For borrowers who have poor credit, they... Continue Reading >>

In the United States, during these months a traditional holiday meal usually includes a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, salad, and lots of dessert. For the US holiday of Thanksgiving, this menu is so traditional that many do not even consider being able to fully celebrate Thanksgiving unless there is turkey involved. As most countries have their traditional holiday meals, right now in Ecuador many areas preparing for their traditional feast as the December holidays are right around the corner. Instead of fattening up turkeys like in the US, many small farmers in Ecuador are... Continue Reading >>

Many of the Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) that Kiva partners with include poverty alleviation in their mission statements. To fulfill this mission, many MFIs realize that administering micro-loans needs to be combined with other supplemental support activities to be able to sustainably bring people out of poverty. Some services that MFIs offer can range from financial management courses, community development projects, business planning for new entrepreneurs, health insurance packages for entire families, just to name a few. They understand that the roots of poverty are much more than... Continue Reading >>

For those of you in the United States, when was the last time you paid for something or received change with a one-dollar coin? It is probably a rare occurrence, but not too surprising when it does happen. These coins are the Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, or Presidential dollars. Since the 1970s millions of one-dollar coins have been put in circulation, but when we need to use a dollar in the United States, it is the paper money we usually exchange.

As a combat veteran, volunteering for Kiva in Ecuador is a dramatic shift from my previous professional experience. The driving factor for me to volunteer is the desire to help build something. All soldiers work and fight to protect their nations, their families, and their friends, but the reality is that we often do so by destroying people and things.

In contrast, Kiva is an institution that is enabling people around the world to build their communities and improve...

One of the little known facts about micro finance is that it is heavily dependent upon information technology. Even though loan sizes are small the amount of transactions necessary to properly account for all of the transactions can, in the aggregate, easily exceed a million transactions a year for a given institution. Recently I had the opportunity to work with Ivonne Balsecca.

It’s my second to last week as a fellow in Ibarra, Ecuador and although I’ve seen and done a lot during my time here I’m still in full Panic-Mode as I haven’t yet bought a thing for my friends and family back home and time is ticking away ever so persistently.

Thankfully I quickly remember that I’m only 30 minutes away from the city of Otavalo and its world renown “Plaza de Ponchos”, a national hub for local talent and for beautiful and colorful handmade Ecuadorian crafts. With this in mind...

The fellows of KF17 have jumped into their Kiva work with both feet, visiting borrowers and meeting their new coworkers at their host field partners. (Photo of a Béninois borrower by Allison Moomey, Benin)

It’s the beginning of March, and by now, most of KF17 has been out in the field for several weeks. We’ve settled in at our field partners, gotten to know some of our new coworkers, and started to dig a...

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Kiva Fellows are volunteers who maximize Kiva's impact around the world. By working closely with our Field Partners in over 50 countries, they make sure loan dollars go where they're needed most -- while having a few adventures along the way. Learn more >>